And you'd think what you say isn't offensive? Look, if this thread has shown anything is that Flyertalk is certainly not what it used to be. Randy is a very busy person and I am sure he doesn't enjoy playing police either. The moderators have been great in doing their jobs of keeping the flames down or else this place would have imploded long time ago. However, there are only so much they can do.

It has become clear to many people that an unmoderated forum like Air Canada is one of the worst places to hang out right now on Flyertalk. Flame wars aside, there is not much substances in most of the discussions taking place there. Or putting a thread in there where it could have received better and more answers when posting in the appropriate forum such as in TravelBuzz is an irresponsbile behavior that would disadvantage the collectivity of the members. You will see people just put OT in front of their topic and go on and posted in Air Canada, for what? Then again, who is doing this? A group of people who fears rules and order and prefer sort of state of anarchy sort to speak so that they can do whatever they want or say whatever they want like lawless land. I am afraid this is not for me. Maybe this is what Randy needs to clarify. Is this an acceptable norm on Flyertalk. If the answer is yes, fine, that's the way you want to do it, fine by me, but I want none of it. I will sure be able to make my choice. But when I look up the TOS of Flyertalk, what I read and understand and what I see is two totally different thing. Why would anyone or any forum be granted an exemption from the TOS?

I was against moderation in AC forum at first when Randy proposed it a few months ago. Because the Air Canada forum I knew then and the one that I know now is two different places. It used to be constructive, friendly, cohesive and foremost, one of the most helpful forum out there. Now, it's like a joke... And a forum is only going to be as good as the people make it to be. The crowd has changed too, several members like myself, and Ken said it too earlier, has posted less and less. Some people you see speaking in this thread against the need of a moderator has displayed the exact symptoms of the problem:

1) Inability to stay on topic
2) Rude or impolite
3) Or worse, inflammatory

Just look at this thread and check where they are from. I don't need to say more. Anyhow, I will do what I promised to do - I strated the process so I must finish it to keep my words. But to tell you the truth, I really hate it. I dont' want to do it because why should I be doing this? It's costing me time and this is not my job and I am not a Volunteer of Flyertalk. But as I said to another member during an e-mail who questionned why shouldn't Randy be starting this process, I said as a member of Flyertalk, we have the choice in our free will to try to improve the functionning of the forums in the best way we believe. I have an idea and I shared it with others to see if they like it and then if we have enough support, we can then present to the authority to seek their approval. Giving up in half-way is not me and it doesn't matter what some opposition might claim or say, no matter what's the outcome, at least the process must goes through. The outcome will be determined once everyone has a say and it's not here. I am not the one who is going to determine the outcome and it has never been my intention. What it would do however is Flyertalk will be able to see the process openly and determine what is the best to do from the data we have gathered and the views expressed by the members. I feel that's as far as I could go. After that, it's none of my business. At this point, I really don't care whether there is a moderator or not in the Air Canada forum. I wish I can care more. But the truth is, I really don't. I am going to repeat it one last time, the forum is going to be as strong as the people participating it - it's not the rules or the moderator(s) who is going to make it.